Rusty Angel (volume)

For releated works titled Rusty Angel, see Rusty Angel (disambiguation).

Rusty Angel
Japanese name	錆びた天使
Romanized name	Sabita Tenshi
English name	Rusty Angel
Cover characters	Alita
Release date
Japanese release	September 24, 1991 ISBN 978-4-08-875071-2
First English release	July 6, 1995 ISBN 978-1-56931-003-8
Second English release	December 2003 ISBN 1-56931-945-6

Rusty Angel is the first volume of Battle Angel Alita. It formed the basis for the first episode of the OVA, which is also titled Rusty Angel.

Changes between first and second Viz printings

The first Viz printing of Rusty Angel included Battle 7 to complete the Makaku story arc and was simply titled Battle Angel Alita. A different cover depicting a damaged version of Alita with angel wings was used and the volume originally retailed for $24.95.

The Viz Media Edition retails for $9.95 and is closer to the original tankōbon. It uses the original Japanese cover, which depicts a nude Alita holding a futuristic gun with the Scrapyard and Tiphares in the background, and only goes up through Battle 6.

The first Viz edition cover

The Viz Media Edition cover

Battle 1

While scavenging in the Tiphares dump heap, Daisuke Ido finds the remains of a female cyborg which he takes home and restores to life. The cyborg has lost her memories, so she is named Alita and Ido rebuilds her body. Alita becomes curious about Ido's mysterious comings and goings at night. She begins to suspect something when Gonzu warns her about a murderer that preys on women and decides to follow Ido one night. As he prepares his rocket hammer and lies in ambush for a woman, Alita tries to stop him, but it turns out that Ido's target is a mutant woman who is the real culprit behind the murders. In order to save Ido, Alita uses a Panzer Kunst move to kill the mutant woman. Ido brings in her head for the bounty and reveals that he is a hunter-warrior.

Battle 2

Alita goes to register as a hunter-warrior at Factory 33 after having gotten into an argument with Ido over doing so. Elsewhere in the Scrapyard, Izuchi tries to buy the brains of a dog but is turned down its owner. His partner Makaku flies into a rage and begins to grab random people around him to suck their brains to fill his endorphin fix. Although furious at first at Alita's decision to become a hunter-warrior, Ido comes to terms with it. He goes out hunting that night and kills Izuchi. Alita, who is also out, comes across Makaku feeding on the brains of a victim. She decides to attack him and slices off an arm, but her body is heavily damaged.

Battle 3

Alita is able to break her fall and propel her body into a spin, burying her arm in Makaku's eye. However her arm breaks off from the strain and she is left defenseless. Ido comes across Makaku trying to break her skull open to suck her brains and is able to destroy his body with the rocket hammer. Makaku's Maggot Body however survives and he fires a spike that impales Ido in the stomach. He vows revenge on Ido and Alita before escaping. Despite his wound Ido is able to load the unsconscious Alita onto his rolling case and reach a pay phone where calls Gonzu for help before collapsing.

Battle 4

Back at Ido's clinic, Gonzu tells Ido how lucky he was that he was able to reach him in time. While Alita dreams, Ido, who is wheelchair-bound and bandaged, has Gonzu take them both to the basement. Here he unveils a powerful cyborg body, the Berserker Body, that he had found in the remains of a spaceship on one of his outings years ago. He supervises Gonzu in transplanting Alita into it. She later awakens it and vows vengeance on Makaku. That night, following his defeat of Zaariki, reigning Coliseum champion Kinuba is relaxing in a waiting room when he is confronted by a mysterious cyborg who claims to be a fan of his. This turns out to be Makaku in disguise, and he is able to take over Kinuba's Power Body and kill him. Ido and Alita visit Bar Kansas, a popular hangout for hunter-warriors. Here Alita makes an enemy of the veteran hunter Zapan and provokes a massive brawl when she calls the hunters cowards for their refusal to go after Makaku. Makaku himself then arrives at the bar and reveals that he too has a new body.

Battle 5

Makaku reveals that instead of killing Alita he plans to transform her into a living pendant that he will wear. After noticing Koyomi, he reveals that he believes that pain and terror can be overcome by subjecting others to pain and terror. He demonstrates the power of the grind cutters built into his hand, throwing Alita into a wall. After Alita displays concern for Koyomi, Makaku decides to kidnap her and escapes into the sewers by opening a massive hole in the bar's floor. Alita follows him and finds Koyomi left in an open area as bait. She dodges Makaku's attack, and he reveals that the sewers are his old home. Enraged at Alita's protective behavior of Koyomi, he is about to take advantage of the handicap that carrying the baby poses to Alita. Before he can do so, Duke Fang emerges from a pipe and pulls out Alita's arm that had lodged in his eye. This allows Alita to hand off Koyomi to Duke Fang. When Makaku tries to retaliate, Alita uses a Plasma Jet to sever his arm below the elbow.

Battle 6

The Boarhead computer that is part of the Power Body advises Makaku to finish Alita off at range before she can close. However she is able to dodge all five cutters when they are fired at her because Makaku's weight has become unbalanced. She lands on top of his head and is about to finish him off when the sewage from the surface tanks is dumped directly onto them from above. Caught in the current, Alita cannot maneuver or form plasma. Makaku uses the current to provide the support he needs to fire the cutters, but his arm unexpectedly explodes. When they both land on shore, Alita reveals that she had carved an incision into the arm's actuators so that it would explode the next time power was sent through it to fire the grind cutters.

Factories and Deckmen

Background information on the Factory and the Deckmen is presented.

The Birth of Deckman No. 10

This omake strip parodies Alita's registration as a hunter-warrior with the creation of Deckman 10.